I can tell you first hand that they have quite a fan base. Nothing like the Beatles circa 1968 but fans none the less.

by NineInchNachos on 4/27/2010 @ 4:51pm

just got a nice email from Bon Von Wheelie. Tacoma bands are nice.

by Dave_L on 4/27/2010 @ 5:41pm

It's like Altered Chords said above. And not only fan-base, but a huge friend-base throughout the Tacoma cultural scene. Solidified long before the internets and before many people we know came to Tacoma or were even born, for that matter.

by NineInchNachos on 4/27/2010 @ 6:59pm

Mr. Altered Chords and other Musicians...
Have you ever paid to play?

by Mark Monlux on 4/28/2010 @ 6:28am

Have you ever played the 100 Monkeys event?

by izenmania on 4/28/2010 @ 8:35am

Mark, I already called dibs on the CLAW 100th Monkey music.

by Altered Chords on 4/28/2010 @ 8:45am

I have never paid to play. My typical fee includes cash, food and strong drinks.

If I started paying friends, I would probably get more people to show up.

by Altered Chords on 4/28/2010 @ 8:45am

Nachos: Was the Tacoma band Motopony nice? Did they ever send you a nice email?

by Thorax O'Tool on 4/28/2010 @ 9:05am

Motopony? Eh... not that they suck, but they suck. Sorry, DB. Nothing personal, but that type of music is really NOT my cup of tea. And the guitar missing strings still bothers me.

As for Girl Trouble, they're quite a bit better. The sort of remind me of a throwback to the era of The Sonics.

by Altered Chords on 4/28/2010 @ 9:47am

I'd be interested in hearing from the younger local bands that perform originals. I think these are the targets of the pay to play promoters.

Unfortunatley, Altered Chords Productions is not dialed into the pop/rock/alt/indy scene. Otherwise we would promote local bands without making them pay. We are under staffed, over worked and all of our chief promoters sales time/energy is used up in telecom.

We are so thrilled to announce that after a year and a half, the Ohio court has finally ruled on Gorilla Productions Vs Girl Trouble. The judge ruled in our favor and dismissed the case. This means that we will not be forced to have a trial with Gorilla Productions in Ohio. It was a long, tough battle. This is the ruling (Gorilla Productions is the Plaintiff and Girl Trouble is the Defendant):

THIS CAUSE CAME ON FOR CONSIDERATION UPON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION. BASED ON THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COURT, AND VIEWING THAT EVIDENCE AND PLAINTIFF'S ALLEGATIONS IN THE LIGHT MOST FAVORABLE TO THE PLAINTIFF, THE COURT FINDS THAT PLAINTIFF HAS FAILED TO ESTABLISH THE EXISTENCE OF JURISDICTION OVER ANY OF THE DEFENDANTS, AND THAT GOOD CAUSE EXISTS FOR THE GRANTING OF DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED THAT PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT AND FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT BE DISMISSED FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION. JUDGMENT ACCORDINGLY. IT IS SO ORDERED. COURT COST ASSESSED TO THE PLAINTIFF(S). NOTICE ISSUED

From Bon: I will be writing on this in depth later but I just wanted to give special thanks. First, to my three band members. We were all sued for my opinions (aka free speech) on my website neverpaytoplay.com. When I brought the bad news to Kurt, Bill and Dale they never once told me to shut down my website. That would have been the simple solution. Just remove it and apologize. They said they’d stand behind me, even in the face of being named in this lawsuit. They were supportive through every step of this very long and tough process. I knew that’s how they’d react. We always back each other up but this was the true test. We also frown on bullying.

I want to thank my family. They heard all my complaining, bitching, crying, through this ordeal. They were my solid support through all of it. It wasn’t easy for them either.

I want to thank our friend and attorney, Wade Neal. I couldn’t have gone through this without him. He was supportive, and calm (when I was flipping out) and always gave me very thoughtful and solid advice. Later, I will be sharing all the mountains of paperwork from both sides and you’ll be able to see Wade’s beautifully written briefs. He’s really good. We were lucky to have him on our side. Thanks Wade! You rock!

I also want to thank our Ohio attorney, Suzanne Bretz Blum. When you get sued in another state, you have to hire somebody who is registered to practice there. Wade found Suzanne to represent us on the Ohio side. While Wade did the heavy lifting, Suzanne was able to present the paperwork in Ohio and give us ideas on how everything works there. They made a great team.

And I want to thank all of you: everybody who gave me encouragement, asked us how it was going, listened to my ranting. The music community (not only from the Northwest but everywhere) really rallied around this and I appreciated that more than I can say. We weren’t alone in this fight.

We won this battle. There may be more. Gorilla Productions could decide to sue us again, but they’ll need to file it here in Washington State. So for now, we consider this recent ruling a huge victory. Hooray for free speech!